On the Sunny Side of Things
by Malachite Aoi
Summary: This is an edited repost. It had been exactly one year, six months, three days, six hours, nine breaths and fifteen beats of a badly broken heart before the man she used to love would find that there was no place left for him.
1. Heartbreak and Hopelesness

Disclaimer: The characters, events, settings and storyline of Final Fantasy VII belongs to Square-Enix, not me. I know this so please don't sue. I'm just borrowing them. Also, in order to appreciate the full impact of this story, since I can no longer post lyrics, I would recommend listening to "Mr. Brightside" by the Killers. Sankoo!

It had been exactly one year, six months, three days, six hours, nine breaths and fifteen beats of a badly broken heart since he had left. He was a special man, endowed with the privelege of having known not only one, but two beautiful angels in his lifetime. One he had grown with, spent countless hours and shared his hopes and dreams with. In return she gave him her undying faith in all that he was and all that he could be. Thus betwixt this exchange, a bond out of familiarity blossomed under the endless sky, and the angel came to fall deeply in love with this ambitious young man.

Further down the road, when this same man had seemingly captured all his hopes and dreams and kept them in a jar, he stumbled upon the second angel, the one who would save his slowly corrupting soul. She wrapped him in her warm smile and the scent of flowers, with the promise of even more wonderful things to come. He enjoyed her simple soul and the possibility of the world beyond the stars where he declared he would take her. He wanted to return the angel back to the Heavens.

This fancy would come to fruition, but by means that were completely unexpected and not in the same context that the hopeful man played in his mind.

He remembered it clear as day how he had awoken from the premonisive dream sweating and shivering, searching for the tiny flower girl and hoping to find her still within the confines of his safety. When he realized that the dream had been more of an omen than a nightmare, he chased down his crazy angel, only to watch her fall before his own horrified and helpless eyes. He was there to watch as his mortal enemy stuck his sword through the abdomen of the woman he loved as if it were a toothpick entering a tray of freshly-baked brownies.

Cloud had left not long after the meteor incident. He originally had gone back to Nibelheim with the angel with eyes the color of summer's finest merlot, and professed that he loved her so. But after a few months of pointlessly playing at a love he knew he could not truly reciprocate, he owned up to his true feelings and told her that he felt it within his very soul. That he knew that the other angel had not really past beyond his reach. She smiled sadly at him and let him go, wishing him the best in finding that light which had shone so brightly in his eyes.

It was true, in the beginning, she cried until she felt as if her eyes themselves would come out. She bawled endlessly for days and nights, wishing no longer to live. Thinking that if she could not have him, then life itself was not worth living. It was only in her darkest of moments that she found another reason to carry on.

She had stood atop one of the highest precipices on Mount Nibel, sobbing and crying out to no one at all. She had yelled her misery to the wintery winds, and had confessed her every fiber was breaking without her blonde-haired, blue-eyed hero to rescue her. She screamed to the uncaring abyss how it was here and now that she needed him most. It was this instance in which she needed the salvation that he had promised her so long ago. He had not fufilled his childhood promise to her. She had always needed in part to save herself as well. And now that he was the only thing in this world that could save her, he was off, trying to save someone who could no longer even breathe. Someone who was so far beyond salvation, that it was a waste of time. Someone dead. Unlike her, so alive, so still full of life left to save. And where was he now?

That was once upon a time in Tifa Lockheart's book.

It had been exactly one year, six months, three days, six hours, nine breaths and fifteen beats of a badly broken heart before the man she used to love would waltz back into her life, only to find that there was no place left for him.


	2. Second Chances

Disclaimer: Same as prologue!

It was looking to be a sunny morning in the sleepy town of Nibelheim. A beautiful brunette woman was still lying in bed, looking like an angel, asleep. In her kitchen, a male brunette rifled around the refrigerator trying to find the green onions so that he could put them in his lovely companion's breakfast omelette. The smell of percolating coffee permeated the air, and it seemed like it was going to be just another ordinary day, passing without incident.

As a matter of fact, no day had been with incident since Vincent Valentine started living with Tifa.

It was that time when she had almost leapt off of Mt. Nibel in a sad attempt to quiet the pain in her heart that was last remembered as a day that threw things off kilter. Vincent, who was then residing in the newly refurbished Shinra Mansion, now renamed Nibel Estate, had gone over to Tifa's house to check on her. He knew all about how Cloud had gone off to find Aeris, believing she could still be alive. He did not condone what Cloud was doing, chasing after the hope and the dream that someone he loved, though he knew she was dead, could still be alive. Espescially at the expense of a woman who time after time made her love for the man highly evident. But yet he could not condemn it either. After all, had he not chased the slowly fading image of his beautiful lover at one point too?

When he reached her house and found that she was not home, which was a rather untoward thing, considering the girl had taken to being a recluse since the blonde's departure, he asked around the neighborhood to see if anyone had seen where she had went. When he was told that they spotted her making her way to the mountain, he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that something bad was in motion.

When he found her, he decided it was best to stay hidden. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but he didn't think it was proper to barge in on her should she just be trying to find a bit of peace. He had stood quietly witihin a rocky alcove and waited. He felt his heart crack as he listened to her proffession of love and despair. He felt it was rude for him to be listening to this intimate "discussion", and was about to leave, believing she would find her absolution when he heard her say something to the effect of "joining Aeris in her state, and then maybe you'll love me too..."

"What do you think you're doing!"

"Vincent? How did you know I was here?"

"Stop this madness Tifa...let's get you home."

"Let me go! If this is what it would take for him to love me like he loves that...that...CORPSE then let me die!"

"I will do no such thing Tifa Lockheart. Now let's go back to the town."

"Let me go!"

The girl fainted in his arms. She just didn't have the strength of heart to endure anything anymore. He carried her back to her home and set her on her bed. He covered her up and made her some tea before departing.

"Tifa,

I don't think it's a good idea for you to be alone anymore. I have a few affairs to deal with at the Estate, but after I am finished I will be returning here. I offer you only this ultimatum, you can either come live with me there, or I'm moving in here. You can let me know of your choice when I return

Vincent."

When she awoke and found the note, she despised herself for looking so weak to him that he felt as if he needed to babysit her. But the more time she had to mull it over in her head, the more she thought that it might be nice to live with someone. Moreover, maybe he wanted companionship too.

"It must be awfully lonely in that mansion...all by himself for so long."

It wasn't since then that the lives of either party had been disrupted.

Of course as it would go, with time and familiarity came love. They both understood the pain of losing the one person that held their heart to someone else, someone they deemed definitely unworthy. They both didn't want to be lonely anymore. And now, they wouldn't have to be.

At 10:00AM when Tifa's alarm went off, she was greeted by the smiling face of Vincent Valentine, bearing a tray with a plate of eggs, made her favorite way, a cup of coffee, and a rose. She smiled up at him in return and motioned him over.

"What's the occasion?"

He bent over to kiss her forehead gently and replied in warm tones before leaving to clean the kitchen.

"The most special thing in the world. Another day with you."

She smiled down at the eggs and cut them into little squares, just the way she liked to eat them every morning. It was only when she had a particularly difficult time cutting part of the egg that she frowned a bit. She didn't remember any instance before where he had dropped something in her food...

She picked through the egg only to find a gorgeous diamond ring, albeit covered in cheese and egg, winking up at her.

Vincent knew by the shriek that she had found his gift.

There was a knock on the door. Tifa bounded out of her room and gave Vincent a big smooch before answering it. If it was someone she knew, or maybe even if she didn't, she wasn't going to miss her first opportunity to show off her new acquisition.

"Good morni--Oh my God!"

A downtrodden-looking blonde with firey blue eyes stood in her doorway.

"Hey Tif...didja miss me?"

TBC


	3. The Cage Door Opens

Disclaimer: Same as the last chapter! (Start listening to the song right about here...)

(Cloud POV)

It had seemed like this feeling had been a cage for me. Something that held me back and kept me trapped, completely and utterly inescapable. From the moment she and I had shared that special night on the Gondola ride at the Golden Saucer, I knew that there was nothing more to life than a flower and a smile.

I always knew of how Tifa felt for me, and this was something that tore at me every day. It was just one of those things where you get unsure about the decsions you make. On the one hand, I knew that I had a woman who was always there for me, and always believed in me. Not to mention she was as beautiful as any woman walking this planet. But on the other hand, I had the chance to be with someone who was equally wonderful, and maybe even moreso, in her own unique ways. I loved her smile and the quiet way she went about things. Her altruism and feminine ways. She was what she sold. She never tried to be anything more than what she truly was. She was a flower.

Tifa was so different. She was a tomboy, which was clever and cute, and yet she too had her vulnerable side. I remember that night where she asked me to be her hero, to come and rescue her if she was ever in trouble. Yet I never seemed to be able to. Whenever there was a fight, or even through all the tough times we faced while on the journey to defeat Sephiroth, there was a firey physical tenacity to her that always kept me from being anything more than helpful to her. Never that hero figure.

I loved them both, but I knew that I had to make a choice. Then one night, before she died, Aeris came to visit me while the others were asleep. She confided in me how afraid she was. How she felt as if something terrible was going to happen, and how as long as she could stop it, she was willing to do anything at all. I held her in my arms that night and cooed my reassurances to her. I kissed her and told her everything would be alright. If only I had known that I was so wrong.

I try not to think about those moments, they are far, far in the past. I can't ever forget the love that I had for her, nor would I ever be able to deny it. But I think myself a fool for not trying to move past it either. There was only so much I could do for her now. Aside from cherishing her memories and everything she had saved with her sacrifices, she was dead, and there was nothing I could do about that. I should have given it up.

I was a fool...I continued to pine for the love of a dead woman, and worse of all, while silently dreaming of her, I pretended to love someone else. I pretended that I had loved Tifa all along. This wasn't fair to the ghost I refused to give up, and this wasn't fair to Tifa.

I remember cold mornings where I would wake up to her smiling face and a tray with a cup of coffee, a plate of eggs with cheese and green onions, and whatever color rose she found suitable for the day. It made me feel so bad to know that her feelings were so strong for me, and yet here I was, unable to feel the same way about her. It was horrible to wish that I was waking up to Aeris. It was horrible to wish that Aeris had made my breakfast for me. It was horrible to look at the rose on the tray and only think of the flowergirl who had stolen my heart away with her charming smile and 1gil roses.

I swear I was mentally ill when I finally decided to lay all my cards on the table.

It was another one of those mornings where she had come in with another one of her brilliant breakfast platters...

"Good morning Cloud...did you sleep well?"

"...Huh? Oh, yeah. I slept fine."

"Here you go! Fresh outta the frying pan, with cheese and green onions-"

"Just the way I like it."

She sunned me with that quirky smile of hers and took a seat on the edge of my bed. It was do-or-die, right here, right now.

"Is something wrong? You haven't even picked up your fork. Tired of the same thing every morning?"

"No, yeah...kinda. Tif, there's something I need you to know."

She sees it coming...her eyes are cast down...her shoulders begin to sag.

"Yes?"

"I...I still think I can find her...somehow. I feel like she's out there, calling to me, and that there is a way I can bring her back to me."

"Cl-Cloud...I thought you said you moved past this! I thought you said we'd build a happy life here. Together?"

"I know that's what I said, and believe me, at the time I said it, I really meant it too. But I can't keep lying here every morning, eating your breakfasts, looking at you and wishing it was someone else."

"Are you saying you wished I was her every morning you woke up! Telling me that you're not tired of my eggs, but tired of me!"

"Tif, you're taking this the wrong way."

"No, I don't think I am. I understand. Sorry to dissapoint you by not magically turning into her after this many mornings. Sorry that you had to pretend that SHE had done all this for you, and yet waking up to me..."

"Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad...I'm more...dissapointed. What gave you the right to play with my feelings this way Cloud? Why couldn't you have just been honest from the start?"

"I didn't want to hurt you."

The words sounded dumb to me even as they came out of my mouth. I licked my lips.

"You know what I have to do, right?"

Her merlot eyes looked away from me and she sighed. A long, heady sigh that admitted defeat even before she did.

"Yes, I do. Go look for her. I hope you find her, and the light that she brought to your eyes. Promise me one thing though..."

"Hm?"

"Don't tell me when you go."

"...Tifa, that's...that's not right."

"Promise me."

"Alright. I promise."

I packed up all my belongings that morning, and just as I promised, I headed out the door without so much as a goodbye, or a thank you. Or more regretfully, even a sorry. I don't think I ever said sorry to her for all that I had put her through.

I carried on for months, going here and there. First to Cosmo Canyon, in hopes that one of the elders would have an answer for me. Next to Gongaga, thinking that maybe the hometown of the one man she had loved before me might herald something. I traveled ALL over the planet. From where the Temple of the Ancients used to be, all the way up to Icicle Inn. I stopped here and there and did mercenary work to make the money necessary to live by and keep on travelling, but it wasn't until I spent a cold, sickly night at Northern Crater did I finally come to my senses.

I was sick and slightly delerious. I had been travelling through the cold, dank recesses of the area for a while, and I hadn't had an Elixer for days. There was hardly anything to keep me going but the hope that I might find her here. Or find a key to her. I eventually found myself in the same cavern as Sephiroth's mako-entombed corpse. I walked up to it, and in my stupor, started pounding it like I could somehow damage the massive thing. I hit it and hit it and hit it, until I wasn't standing anymore. And somehow, it opened it's eyes and spoke to me.

"Foolish boy..."

"Shut up...what do you know you monster?"

"I know enough that I don't chase after dead dreams."

"You're dead, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

"She's dead. As dead as I am foolish boy."

"STOP IT."

"Go back to the live one...before it's too late."

"What are you saying?"

"Wouldn't it be ironic, if all who loved you died?"

I somehow woke up outside of the Crater, nestled in the wing of my Chocobo.

"Come on. I think it's time to go back to Nibelheim."

And yet, when I finally returned to what had once been my home, I found that things weren't the same anymore. The girl who I had fallen in love with over the journey home, the girl I had learned to appreciate for her kindness and patience, the girl I had stomped on and done wrong to, broke her heart and yet she had begged for more...was mine no more.

It was great, it was great. I hope the tears in my eyes sparkled half as brightly as that beautiful diamond ring she now wore on her left hand. Did it start with a kiss for them too?


	4. Challenges

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter!

A/N: Thanks to all my readers and reviewers. You guys are what keep me going!

There was an akward moment of silence at first, Tifa was unsure of what to say or do. Even after all those years of being desperately in love with him, and all those years of being by his side, it only took a little over a year and the love of a...better...man, to change the way she felt about her 'hero'.

Vincent tried to break the tension by inviting him in. He accepted gratefully and sat at the kitchen table while Tifa made him a cup of coffee. When she placed the cup in front of him and took a seat between the two men he took a survey of his surroundings. Hardly any of the things were the same. Most of the furniture had been replaced by more expensive-looking furnishings and marble tables. Lastly, he made a subtle survey of the woman at his side. She looked pretty much the same, if not for the happy glow and the sparkling ring on her finger. He sipped absently at his drink and tried to start a conversation.

"Nice setup you got here Tif. And Vincent. Things sure have changed..."

He let the sentence hang to see if either of them had caught his meaning.

"Yes, they have. Do you like it?"

A pair of glowing crimson eyes bore into his, as if the question had been more of a challenge than idle banter.

"Why should I have any dispute with anything? It's not like this is my house." 'Or my life' He added mentally.

"You know what? I just dropped by to say hello...I'll be in town for a little bit. But I think I want to go catch up with a few of my old bar buddies. So I'll be seeing you."

"There's still a room here for you...should you want it..."

Vincent shot a cold look at Tifa, but grit his teeth and smiled at Cloud. The blonde shrugged and waved his hand as if he would consider the offer. He walked out the door and shut it lightly.

"Why did you invite him to stay here?"

"Is it really so hard to understand?"

"Please don't tell me you're having second thoughts Tifa. Not this early on."

"I'm not, but that doesn't mean that I can't still be hospitible to him Vincent. You know I love only you now."

"Yeah, NOW being the operative word." The whole matter had put him in a rather salty mood.

"We're supposed to be happy together now...you proposed to me this morning!"

"Precisely, and I didn't even get a 'yes' yet! How am I supposed to feel Tifa? Someone you loved for a long time came running back in here asking if you missed him and silently challenged everything that we had built over the past year! Yes, EVERYTHING. Don't look at me like that. Don't you understand? How would it make you feel if Lucrecia came waltzing in on our lives now? Can you honestly tell me you wouldn't be the least bit insecure?"

She bit her lip, a bit stunned at the reaction, and somewhat bitter just at the very mention of another woman's name.

"Please? Let's not start this now. Let's work on being happy together." She walked over to him and nestled into his back. "Let's go look at flowers," She nearly choked on the word, "And other things for the wedding. Maybe we can even visit that cute bridal cafe?"

He instantly softened at the touch.

"I'm sorry Tifa. I should not have exploded at you like that. He just makes me uneasy."

"Don't apologize, I understand okay? No more unhappy talk. Let's go."

He gave her a tense smile in reply and allowed himself to be guided to the bedroom to change before they went off to look at stuff for their new beginning.

"Maybe there really is nothing to worry about after all..." He thought to himself.

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(Cloud's POV)

Bar buddies...right. I don't have any of them anymore. They couldn't stand me. I'm glad Tifa never came to the bar with me. She always said it wouldn't be right considering it would be like giving patronage to her competition. But that's besides the point. The reason why no one could stand being my "bar buddy" was because I never knew when to quit. And when I got plastered, I would prattle on about...her.

Everything comes full circle I guess. Here I am again trying to get buzzed on liquor and numb the pain that yet another woman has left me with. I don't blame her though. It was really arrogant of me to expect her to have spent all this time pining after me when I had so blatantly explained to her that the feeling wasn't mutual. Still I feel betrayed. How could she just move on like that? She's spent nearly ten years with me, by my side, and now she can just up and leave me? That easy? What did he promise her anyway? Prolly a nice cozy room in his mansion. Or a part of his wealth. After all, he was a Turk.

Maybe I'm just bitter.

In the recesses of my mind I feel the start of my imagination's gears pumping into action. And by GOD I don't want them to.

She's crying about me...tell me she's crying out for me. And he comes, and wraps his tainted arms around her! He wipes at her tears and he kisses her...he kisses her. Then he pulls her closer, and deepens the kiss. My name changes into his, and he picks her up and carries her away.

They reappear in her room, and they're still kissing. He's holding her close, and he lays her down on her bed...

For some reason, I find tears running down my cheeks and splashing into my drink. I think I'm going to be sick, and I don't know if it's the booze, or what my mind is making me think.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A young male bartender walked over to Cloud and shook him lightly.

"Sir, sir? You need to get up sir. The bar will be closing in a few minutes."

A pair of bleary blue eyes shot right through him and threw down enough gil to cover the drinks and tip. He wondered how long he had been passed out, but didn't stop to contemplate it as he stumbled out of the bar, still ailing from misery and inebriation. Hell-bent on not going back to the origin of his sadness, espescially while he looked like Hades had hit him with his cauldron, he stumbled into the inn, though it retained horrible memories for him (really, the whole town did) and asked if there was an availiable room. Finding that there was none, he wandered around town until he felt as though he was going to pass out standing up. Somewhere between thinking about sleeping in the Well and continuing to walk, he found himself on Tifa's doorstep once more. He banged his head on the door and asked himself what he was doing here.

Tifa walked out clad in a bathrobe, half asleep. She instantly perked up when she saw who it was.

"Cloud? What's wrong? You look awful."

"Can I sleep here for the night? The inn is full."

"Of course you can...come in." She grabbed him around the waist and led him to his room. "Vincent is sleeping, try not to make too much noise. You can shower if you like, your dresser still has all it's clothes in it..."

She cooed to him and attended to him and once she was satisfied that he would be comfortable went back to her room.

"With him." Cloud mentally berated himself.

Yet his so-called competition too, was brooding quietly. He sat at his window glaring out into the nothingness, wondering if things were as bright as they first seemed to be...

TBC


	5. Imagination, Petty Problems, and Trust

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter!

A/N: I know Cloud seems really OOC, but he's drunk. That's the reason. This chapter contains a bit of citrus (sorta)and a few bad words so you've been warned! Thanks to readers and reviewers!

After a refreshing shower that sobered him up a great deal, he came to find that things were exactly the same as he had left them. Just like Tifa reassured him they would be. Cloud was grateful for at least this much, and wondered how she had managed to convince Vincent not to ransack the place, sell all his stuff and turn it into a storage closet. He didn't know why, but the guy seemed really perturbed around him. It's not like they had parted on bad terms. In fact, the last time he had seen Vincent was right before he left. He was doing some business at the bar with someone who was contracted to fix up the Estate, and Cloud ran into them. They shared a friendly drink and soon thereafter he left. He wondered vaguely if things between he and Tifa weren't as great as they seemed to be. Maybe he was a threat to their seemingly well-built foundation. Deep in his heart he longed for this to be the true answer, yet on the surface, he could not admit to thinking such petty thoughts. A repetitive banging on the wall started up followed by muffled voices.

"Oh my God...this can NOT be happening when they KNOW that I'm in the room next to them!" He shook his head in disbelief and tried to curl up as tightly as possible, muffling the noises with his pillow. His mental gears set to work as they had in the bar.

He's laying her on the bed and unties the robe from about her body. With his golden claw-arm he rips through the silk shift she's wearing underneath it and presses himself against her. She slips his pajama top off and rubs his chest gently, urging him on. He throws the covers on top of the both of them and starts the motions of sharing a special night with her. She quietly utters his name and welcomes his advances. The bed pounds into the wall...

"And here I am, stuck listening to this fucking torment..." Cloud muttered under his pillow. His mind just would not give him a moment's peace tonight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Why?"

The question greeted her simple and cold from the darkened room.

"I thought you were asleep?"

"Well I'm up now, aren't I? Now answer me."

''He needed a place to stay. I couldn't renegociate what I had told him earlier today."

"Damnit Tifa! You KNOW how I feel about this and yet you continue to push! It's like you're intentionally doing this to me just to see me squirm! How can you let him get in the way of us!"

"I'm NOT! You're the one who's acting like a big baby and making a fuss over him. I'm not doing anything for him that I wouldn't do for anyone! If it had been Barret, Red, even Cid! I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of something so simple! Would you have me go in there right now and yank him out of bed? Tell him to sleep on the porch and maybe we'll throw him some scraps in the morning?"

Vincent rose from his seat at the window and glowered at Tifa. He started pounding the wall with his fist while cussing loudly. Tifa screamed at him.

"Stop it! Stop it! Why are you doing this stop it right now! You'll wake him up! Stop it!" She ran to him and held tight to his arm. He whirled on her and took a step away from her.

"Do you honestly think I give a damn if I wake him up? If it weren't for my respect for you I'd go in there and kick him the Hell out myself. My God, don't you understand a single thing I'm saying? I can't take the way he looks at you! I can't take the way he treats you! After nearly two years of neglecting your very existence, and more than that of wanting you to be another woman, yet claiming he LOVED YOU, you still let him walk all over you like a welcome mat!"

She hauled back and slapped Vincent across the face.

"I can't believe you just said that to me...how dare you! You're no better, having pined after a half-dead spectre of a woman nearly all of your cruddy existence, doing ridiculous things to try and find absolution, and living like a ghost thinking that if one ghost met another things would work out!"

There was a palpable tension in the air as both parties glared at each other. There were so many ugly things that had come out just in the past ten minutes, it would be a wonder if things would be the same.

Vincent ran a hand through his black hair and sucked in an uneasy breath. He moved closer to Tifa and put his arms around her. She struggled a bit, but finally gave in and released a choked cry. This isn't the way things should have gone for the both of them. They got together to try and erase the hurt, not to play it over and over like a broken record and make it worse. He held her close and cooed. She buried her face in his shoulder and wept.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to say those things to you. I was just really upset. Stop crying, please? I'm so, so sorry."

While he ran a hand through her hair, she gathered herself in shuddery breaths and apologized for hitting him and saying all those mean things back.

"It's okay...let's just go to bed. Nothing is going to be resolved tonight. Everything will be fine. I love you."

He glanced her forehead with his lips.

"I love you too." She tugged on the collar of his shirt and managed to make him stoop low enough for her to sweep her wine-red lips across his own. He guided her into bed and threw the covers across them. Snuggling in close, ready for sleep, letting the sound of ragged breathing and sniffles lull them into slumber.

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(Vincent's POV)

This was absolute insanity. I cannot believe I'm letting something so petty turn me into such a monster. I'm beginning to do and say so many horrible things that it's difficult for me to imagine that I am still myself. I've only ever felt this way once before, and that was when Hojo took away from me the chance to be with Lucrecia. After that, I quelled my emotions to a degree where none of them were ever so obvious as they are making themselves right now.

Anger is such a foreign emotion to me now. So is the emotion that so often preceeds it for me lately. This emotion we call jealousy. I abandoned such things as repenetance for the realization that feelings are useless unless they can be acted upon. And I, being who I am, nothing more than a tormented shell of a man, knew that there would be no such energy from it.

Yet here I find myself acting like a jealous teenager every time that other man so much as sets eyes on her. Is it because they share a past? Or is it because I am afraid and insecure? Perhaps it is a mixture of both that make up this bitter coctail I consume. I feel as though my entire body is on fire. My soul rages. It's almost as bad as if Chaos himself were taking over.

Sometimes I think about what might have happened in the past. What kind of endearing intimacies could they have possibly shared that would make her so utterly devoted to someone who had spent all his time doing her wrong. I try not to let my imagination dwell on these unsavoury thoughts, but yet sometimes while she is away, and there is nothing to keep me company but the shadows of the house, my mind becomes wary and unhealthily curious as to what deeds were done under this roof.

I tried very hard to make a house of my own with her here, replacing all the old things with new ones, ones of our own. I even tried to convince her to take all the stuff out of the room he had abandoned, sell it and redecorate. Maybe use it for something more useful, like a guestroom if ever any of our former comrades decided to drop by. She refused saying it would be disrespectful. That he might someday be back. I figured he might return, but I didn't care one way or the other if any of his belongings were still here waiting for him dilligently. No less his, I guess what you would call, ex-girlfriend. Akward at first, but chummy as ever once the air of familiarity finally settled like the dust his arrival had roused.

I tighten my grip around the lithe yet muscular woman beside me and feel her nuzzle closer. There has to be a way to get through this in one happy piece. Things are off to a very rocky start, but sometimes the road to forever isn't always the easiest. Hell, we beat Sephiroth, conquering something as petty as our raging hormones shouldn't be that much harder.

I close my eyes as her breathing evens out. That's right, just like that, things even out if you learn to control the situation.

TBC


	6. Bad Timing

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter!

A/N: As usual, thankees to readers and reviewers!

(Tifa's POV)

Last night's events were horrible. I don't understand at all why Vincent is acting this way. Doesn't he understand that I'm not some foolish little girl who isn't going to go running back to someone who, though I loved them deeply, hurt me so much? I love him, and only him. I won't lie that just seeing Cloud once again makes my heart soar. But it's just the fact that I know he's alive and well. Just the fact that I know he's not half-mangled on some other continent, sick and emaciated, that makes me feel alright again. This isn't love anymore, it's just...friendship right?

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The morning dawned on what was going to be another bright and sunny day. The smell of eggs and roses was missing today, as no one was really in the mood to try and prepare a decent meal after last night's events. Vincent was still apprehensive about the presence of Tifa's ex-obsession sharing the same household as them, and he vaguely wondered for how long this arrangement would be upheld. Tifa also was still mulling bitterly over the raging sentiments that all seemed to be flying in her direction from both males. Unbeknownst to them, Cloud was seething over what he imagined he had to endure listening to last night.

"I'm really sorry about all the noise we made last night...I hope we didn't give you any trouble sleeping." Tifa apologized while a slight coloration crept into her cheeks.

Cloud's face burned in embarrassment. He never figured the woman for a mind reader.

"It's alright...it's just what grown-up couples do, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I still feel bad, knowing you were there, having to listen to all of it."

An akward silence fell between all parties. Vincent was still glaring icily out of the window toward the direction of his Estate.

"I have some affairs I think I need to take care of this afternoon. You two don't mind if I leave you here alone do you?" The crimson-eyed brunette directed the question towards Cloud, but looked directly at Tifa to gauge her reaction. She had cast her bright eyes downward and her lips seemed to twitch as though she were on the verge of protesting.

"Of course not, do what you gotta do, right? I'll stay here and make sure Tifa stays out of trouble. After all, wouldn't want anything happening to your bride-to-be." There was a bitter edge to his voice that he tried hard to conceal, but judging by the look on the other man's face, knew that he had done so poorly.

Without any further conversation, Vincent grabbed his coat from the rack by the door and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him. A behemoth would have made less noise. The other two inhabitants looked at one another, unsure of what they could say.

"I'm really sorry that you had to be an audial witness to another one of our domestics...it's not fair that we put you through it too."

"What are you talking about? That little squabble just now?"

"No, last night. All that pounding and shouting. We lost our tempers...we'll try not to make such a ruckus tonight...that is if you're staying again." Tifa's voice gained a hopeful lilt to the ending of her sentence.

"So wait, are you telling me that last night, all that noise that was coming from your room, was a fight?"

"Yeah? We had a little bit of a heated discussion and he started punching the wall. I was screaming at him to stop and...yeah." She let the sentence hang, not wanting to tell him the full reason the whole thing had come about. "Why? What did you think it was?"

Cloud's face turned beet red as he cast his eyes downward. He stuttered a few phrases and finally settled on a weakly muttered 'nothing', rather than further embarrassing himself because of his highly overactive imagination. A part of him soared joyously. "So they AREN'T sleeping together!" Was the first thought that radiated through his mind. On the other hand, he did tell himself that he wasn't so sure this whole 'fight' thing wasn't some cover up to make what might have happened look more inocuous.

"Did he hurt you? If he did..." He managed a recovery from his jumbled thoughts.

She shook her head rapidy and feverently denied that he had, or ever would do such a thing to her. "He's no monster." She added timidly. 'Unless you count a green-eyed one...'

Once more, a blanket of silence settled across the two. They gazed into their mugs of coffee uneasily. There was so much to say, but it seemed as though there was no longer a reason to say any of it. Tifa's mind swirled with questions. She wanted to ask him if he had found what he had searched for. Why he came back. If he thought he was going to accomplish anything. If he loved her even. Likewise Cloud wanted all the details over what had happened in his absence over the past year, and how things wound up like this. He didn't think that it was fate at all that his whole life should fall apart in less than two years.

"Tifa...what happened here? I mean, I know it's none of my business now, and you seem happy enough in this set up...but how...what...y'know...?"

She kept her eyes cast down as she replied, not wanting to let him see the tears that were slowly welling up.

"Because I was so miserable without you! Don't you know how much I wanted you? How much I l-loved you! And then you went and tore my whole world apart by confessing all those awful things to me! I had hoped you died! I wanted you out of my life and away forever! And the only way I could forget you was by trying to love again! And he was there for me. He was to me, what I was to you. A filler! Someone just to nullify that burning emptiness inside caused by longing for someone we could never have for so, so long. For too long..."

Cloud let his own tormented tears fall as the next words spilled out of his mouth. He lunged across the table sending his chair and the two mugs of coffee clattering to the floor. He pressed her face to his chest and cried out. "So tell me! Do you love me still! Tell me you love me still!" He buried his face in her hair and massaged her neck as he whimpered and cooed, praying for the answer that he needed to keep going.

"Don't you see I can't love you now? I worked very hard for the past year to undo all the chains that you had so cleverly wrapped around my heart. I worked so hard! I need to love Vincent!"

"But do you? DO YOU!"

"N--Ye-No! Yes! I don't know...why Cloud! WHY NOW! I was s-so close to rebuilding my world without you, and now, now you come back, distorting everything I feel! GODDAMN YOU!"

He grabbed her tightly by the upper arms and thrust her apart from his body. With a simple motion he covered her mouth with his and tried to convey with this single gesture all the love he had learned he needed to invest in her.

They didn't notice a certain man had slipped in during the commotion, who was now standing dumbfounded in the foyer, looking in at what he knew was his whole future falling to pieces in front of he very eyes.

If anything was going to work out, God help him, destiny had better be on his side after this.


	7. Heated Battles

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter!

A/N: Sankoo!

Tifa's eyes snapped open as she gave Cloud a relatively rough shove. The grating sound of someone clearing their throat permeated the silence, breaking the stolen kiss. The sound of two sets of lips peeling apart from the passionate act followed shortly thereafter, seasoned with guilty stares and strings of saliva as even more evidence of the crime they had both commited against the man standing just a few yards away.

Said bewildered man was standing ramrod straight, as if petrified in his position, glaring at the two as if by his gaze alone he could set them ablaze. His firey eyes seemed to glow an even more startling hue fueled by the new intensity of the feelings stirring within him. He felt the first sinews of his hold on Chaos beginning to snap within him. He was mentally choking down the scene and fire within, hoping beyond all hope to avoid a very messy battle to what would surely be the death.

The intensity of everything he had ever suspected smacked him the face with a taste as bitter as bile and the impact of running straight into a well-cast Barrier spell. He had felt this coming in the very depths of every inch of him that could sense things intuitively, yet out of spite he turned a blind eye to the inevitable and gave them both the benefit of the doubt. The betrayal was something that transcended simple anger and hurt, it was something that was beyond love. It was almost what he could have only imagined was the first coils of spurned hate that he felt beginning to kindle in the bottom of his stomach. He closed his eyes to the scene in front of him and tried to will it away, hoping that once the lids raised from his eyes, he would find that he had just been lost in nothing more than another one of his morbid, imagined scenarios.

When he opened his eyes there was no such gift to await him. No good news to settle the burning in his soul. But for the first time since the blonde's name had become as common as a household item, he felt as though his eyes had truly opened up.

"Vincent...how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough, I assure you."

He had not been standing there long enough to hear Tifa's shuddering confession of putting on nothing more than a loving facade towards the seething man, but it was true that he had been standing there long enough to get the gist of what had occured while he had been away.

"So is this how it happens Tifa? One man leaves you alone long enough for another to seduce you and you're willing to risk it all on the chance of something better?" He purposefully threw in all the vitriol he possibly could to make himself sound as bitter as he felt. If it was going to happen, it was going to happen now, right in front of his opened eyes, not while he had them shut to the truth.

"No! It's not like that at all! You just had really bad timing..."

"I was the one with the bad timing? Maybe it was you and your LOVER...shouldn't be kissing when you're not sure where I am." He was slowly losing control and began to feel the first breaks in his skin as the leathery wings of his demonic alter ego pushed to be released from it's fleshy prison.

Cloud, after many uninterrupted years of fighting, noticed the first shudderings of the transformation. Acting quickly he cast a sleeping spell on the vulnerable man, taking advantage of the fact that he had not had the need to dress or accessorize for battle conditions since returning to Nibelheim.

Vincent crumpled instantly under the sway of the strong spell, and was caught before hitting the ground by his very repenitant fiancee. Using the unGodly strength she had been granted, she hauled the sleeping figure to the couch and let him snooze there gently. She rolled him on his stomach and kept her hands pressed to his back, closely surveying the degression of the wings back into his form. Once she was satisfied that they were indeed sinking back into him, she cast a quick curative spell to undo the damage that the opening changes had caused and lay her head across his. She stroked his back and whispered words she knew he could not hear, nevertheless understand, praying that when he awoke they could work things out.

"Look at what you've done! You're ruining everything!" She gaped up at the sullen figure looming over her. Her eyes shined with the first glimmer of withheld tears.

"It wasn't...it wasn't supposed to happen like that. I didn't think...I just meant to see if you loved me. I meant to show you that I loved you too. I think I'm going to go for a while, see if there isn't somewhere else for me to stay. I really don't feel comfortable staying here anymore. Espescially after all the trouble I've caused."

Tifa nodded sullenly at him. "You're not going to leave me again, are you? I need you to at least stay until everything is done with. At least until everything has been resolved."

Looking straight into her eyes, he made his final avowal, and he meant to see it through.

"Tifa Lockheart, I don't intend to leave you ever again unless one of the following things should happen. I'll only leave if you tell me to. I'll only leave if you should become Mrs. Valentine. I'll only leave if you...if you agree to become Mrs. Strife, and I'm leaving with you by my side." He bore into her with his intense blue eyes, which incidentally forced her to look away.

"I can't promise you anything Cloud. Nothing at all. Everything is so messed up, and I'm so mixed up inside. I don't know if you understand, but this is just how it is. But I'll trust you when you tell me you'll stay until one of those goals have been reached." She looked down at the dark man beside her and contrasted him with the ray of sun that she beheld before her. With a sigh she felt him stir and urged Cloud to take his leave.

Grabbing his duffel, Cloud left the house and headed for the inn. He hoped that if only for tonight he would have some luck finding somewhere else to stay.

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Vincent cracked a groggy eye and found Tifa still by his side, massaging the spots where the wings had pierced his skin. Once he worked past the drowsy feeling that usually came with recovering from a spell like that, his anger came back to him renewed, though just a bit duller than it had previously been.

He sat up fast and forced Tifa away from him. He didn't want her to touch him at the moment.

"Vincent, it's not what it looked like. I wasn't cheating on you! You walked in right when he grabbed me and forced that on me."

"If that's the case, then you shouldn't mind if I go and punish him for forcing a woman to do something she did not want to."

The statement was a direct challenge. If she protested, she admitted that she had wanted it. If she let him go, well, God only knows what the enraged man would do to Cloud. She stammered for a response as he sat up and started towards the door. Pulling out Death Penalty from his jacket she threw open the door and made his way down the stairs of the porch. Tifa released a startled cry and chased after him, calling his name, urging him to think it over.

"Look! Vincent! I know it was forced, but please! Reconsider! Is it really worth taking his life for this? Just ask him to leave town, I'm sure he will!" She lied through her teeth just to try and calm him. Keep him from killing Cloud. He ignored her cries and went to one of the meandering villagers. Glaring down at the man, he curtly asked if a spikey-haired, blonde man with overbright blue eyes had passed through. The man, fearing just the look that Vincent had given him was more than happy to oblige the information that indeed such a man had been here, and was as a matter of fact, staying at the nearby inn. Satisfied with the answer, he trudged forward. His fiancee finally caught up to him and grabbed him by the arm.

"Please! Please...stop this right now! I don't want anything happening...it's all just a big misunderstanding!" She gave him her most beguiling look and prayed with all her heart she could change his mind about what he meant to do.

Shaking her off, he went into the inn and found the room where Cloud was staying. Cloud, who had expected something like this, was sitting on the edge of his bed, carefully sharpening Ultima Weapon. He smiled up at the older man.

"Take it outside?" He asked. It was more of a statement than a question. "I'm not quite as rich an an ex-Turk I assure you. I don't think I could cover the damages we may cause to this place."

Removing themselves from the inn, and from the entire town for that matter, (netiher one of them wanted to risk innocents getting hurt in the crossfire), they stood atop the same precipice that Tifa had on that cold morning on Mt. Nibel.

They never broke each other's gaze, even for a second. There was too much at stake here. Their lives for one, and more importantly the love of a woman who was still desperately pleading for them to find a more peaceful way to resolve things.

Cloud readied his sword in front of himself and stood, muscles tense, prepared to attack.

Vincent cocked his gun and pointed it at his adversary's face. He smiled.

"Well, look on the bright side my friend...it'll be a relatively painless death. For you."

TBC


	8. On the Sunny Side of Things?

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter!

A/N: Sankoo!

From this remark, Cloud bore naught more than a smirk on his pretty face. He stabbed the tip of his sword into the soft earth and leaned on the hilt, still wearing that cocky yet petulant expression on his face.

"Well, if that's the case, a sword seems to be no match for a gun. Don't you think?"

Vincent shifted all his weight to one foot and drop the muzzle to the ground, glancing haughtily back at the man across of him.

"Then what would you have us do? Pick up rocks and try to stone one another to the death? Or would you rather have us go at it in a good old fashioned bar fight?" He flexed the mechanical fingers on his claw-arm. "I wasn't a member of the Turks for my gunslinger abilities alone."

A more bemused expression passed Cloud's face as he threw a sideways glance at Tifa.

"Now now, let's try and be men about this matter. Not schoolboys. After all, we have yet to hear what our fair damsel wants."

Both sets of eyes moved to Tifa and locked on to her countenence, which itself went from concerned horror to disbelief. Cloud had put her on the spot, it seemed as if it were do or die time for her.

"Well?"

Vincent looked lazily at the pair, scanning from one face to another. A part of him thought that this was all some well-choreographed plan that they had devised while he was away. That they knew exactly how this situation was going to play out and were Hell-bent on driving it to this point, just so she could profess her love for the other man and run away with him. Leaving the crimson-eyed man not only shamed and heartbroken, but all alone once more, tending to a female-inflicted emotional wound.

Her silence had dragged on for what seemed an eternity. In her mind, the gears were slowly churning, but could not help to quell her indecisive nature. On the one hand she wanted to escape with Cloud. Try and see if they could not have another go at the life they had before, only with a more proper ending this time than his betrayal. On the other, she was happy with the security she found in Vincent, and knew that he loved her more than imaginable, and that he would be the most sensitive, faithful, enduring lover she could ever hope for. She knew her mind was made up once the thoughts formed themselves as words on her lips.

"Cloud. I want-" her voice gave out on her halfway through her sentence, and she noticed how Vincent seem to shrink into himself, bracing for the news he expected. She also saw the shadow of a triumphant smile form on the blonde's lips. "I want Cloud...to leave. Tonight."

A set of stormy eyes bore into her own and silently questioned what she was doing. He had been so confident that he had her by a string!

"I want you to leave tonight. Or I'll give Vincent full permission and absolution, in my heart, from anything he may choose to do to you as a result of your failure to depart." She ran to Vincent's side and wrapped a tentative arm about his waist, hoping that he had forgiven her for everything that had happened since her still kindling old flame had shown up on their doorstep.

Vincent tugged at Tifa's frame and urged her to head down. With that said, he felt as if there were no need for any more words to be shared with Cloud. This isn't the way he had wanted things to go with any of the people he had saved the world besides, but if this is how the cards fell, then he was willing to let them, just so long as she was still by his side. The two of them left together, Tifa casting one last longing look back on the man who had still, after so long, managed to alter her life in earth-shattering ways.

Cloud watched their retreating forms and yanked his sword from the soil. He swung it wildly at the rocky outcrops venting the anger over the shameful loss he had just suffered. He had been cocky and that had been his downfall. Ever since he was a child it had been his overly ambitious nature that drew him to chasing impossibilities, thinking he was going to succeed, only to fail again and again.

"Well, if that's what she wanted, that's what I told her I would do."

He slowly picked his way down the mountain and decided to go to the Nibelheim Bar one last time before leaving this place and all of it's bitterness behind for good. The drinks weren't particularly excellent or anything, nor was the service, but this had been his bar and his hometown for so long. Now he was being forced out of both because of a stupid choice that he had made.

The sun sank far below the horizon and the stars began to wink up in their usual positions in the sky before he managed to unstick himself from the barstool and make his way back to the inn to gather up what little belongings were left to him now. With little grace or ceremony, he began to wildy rumple and throw things into his duffel and pick through the items he knew he wouldn't need. It was during this activity that he noticed a little red light was flashing on his PHS, letting him know that he had missed a call.

When he went to check who it was, no number registered, but there was a new voicemail waiting for him. He quickly dialed the number to his voicemail box and entered the password, each pulse mimicking the unsteady and irregular beat of his own nervous heart.

"You have one new message: First message:

Cloud?" It was hard to understand because it sounded as though she had been hushedly whispering at the time she recorded it.

"Cloud, it's me, Tif. I'm whispering because Vincent is showering now, and I don't want him to know that I'm leaving you this message. I really hope this is still your phone, and that you get this message, because if not, I'm just going to end up looking like a fool. I'm sorry about what I said up on Mt. Nibel, but it's true. I want you to leave, but I want to leave with you. If you're already gone, then keep going when you hear this. Don't come back. But if you're still here...I'll be waiting on my chocobo right outside of town in that small vegetated area with the pretty copse of trees we used to play hide and seek in. I'll wait there until sunrise tomorrow morning. If you come for me then I'm going away with you. We'll run for as long it takes for us to find somewhere where we can build a new life together. If you don't, then I know that this is just the way things were meant to be. He's getting out now, I gotta go. Hope to see you there."

He clicked off the phone and looked at the clock mounted on the wall. It was only 8:00. He knew that she wouldn't be waiting there that early. He licked his lips nervously and continued to pack all of his stuff. When he finished, he set the alarm clock to midnight and lay down on the bed, hoping to sleep before he went to see if things would really go his way.

Four hours later he was wide awake and throwing his bag of possessions across one broad shoulder. He quickly paid the bill for his stay and ran out of the inn. In the same manner of haste he loaded up his chocobo and mounted her, pacing her at a steady gate to the outskirts of town. Coaxing her to enter the area, he slowed the giant bird's pace and called out Tifa's name softly.

From her own dark corner of the heavily forrested area, she emerged atop her own golden bird, bedecked with a few bags of the things she felt were necessities in her new life.

Cloud beamed brightly, his own smile wide and bright enough to illuminate the entire area for miles. Her own smile joined his. They urged their steeds towards one another and shared a giddy conspiratorial glance at one another. Leaning in close they shared a quick yet emotion-packed kiss.

"I never dreamed that something like this could ever happen. Never."

She smiled at him and grabbed his hand.

"What about Vincent?"

"He's fast asleep now. He won't know what's happened until sunrise."

"How do we know he won't assume you were kidnapped or something?"

"Don't worry about any of that. Just think about the future, and what we can do from here with one another."

She smiled even brighter when he took her had and raised it to his lips. He glanced down at it as a puzzled look flitted across his face.

"What about this?" He inquired as he stroked her left-hand ring finger with his other hand.

"Like I said. Don't worry about it."

He shrugged nonchalantly and leaned in to claim yet another kiss. Doing so, they then started on the road to forever, side by side, at a steady trot, while still hand in hand. They appraoched the source of twilight without so much as a backward glance at the place both of their slowly mending hearts had once called home.

And maybe they were travelling towards the sunnier side of things.

The brightside of things.

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Back at Tifa's house, a sullen figure bowed his head as he crumpled a single sheet of paper in his human fingers. The golden claws of his less-human arm were digging holes into the side of the bed where he had hoped that his now ex-fiancee, would have spent the rest of her nights lain.

Normally a man of great fastiduousness, never one to drink, he found himself rummaging through the storage area of their house where Tifa had kept the extra supplies for her bar. He grabbed as many liquors as he could carry and stumbled out of the house, not caring that it wasn't even shut out to anyone who would choose to intrude. He made his way back to the mansion he had once inhabited all alone, intent on becoming that way once more.

While choking down another bottle of the bitter liquid, he re-read the note, as though reading it over and over would change the words that were written.

"To My Mr. Brightside:

I remember like yesterday how you came and rescued me from a fate that would have been totally unbecoming of a woman who had helped save the world from a maniacal murderer and a giant meteor bound to wipe out the entire planet. You were the only thing that kept me going for the longest time.

You were there for me when I was down and out and when no one else even knew of the great sadness and pain that I carried in me. Or if they knew, didn't seem to care. You were to me, the hero that Cloud never was.

But tonight I have one last chance to see if he could ever live up to that promise. I have one last chance to see if things can't be how I always pictured they would before you walked into my life. Please forgive me now that I'm telling you that although I was the one who told him to leave, I intend to leave with him.

Maybe someday I'll be back when my heart's been trampled on for the last time. Maybe you'll be waiting here for me. Maybe you won't. But do whatever you think will make you happiest. Definitely. If I've learned nothing else from all of this, it's to do what you think will lead to the happiest road in your life.

I love you,

Tifa Lockheart"

Below her signature was his wedding ring, hastily taped above a small sidenote in the same womanly script.

"P.S.: I didn't think it would be right of me to keep this. Keep it for the next girl you may come to save and love. You never know, she might be me."

It wasn't until all the bottles of liquor were empty and the sun began to show signs of starting a cheerful, new day that he stumbled down to the basement of the Estate and unlocked a musty room with a single black coffin in it's center.

"I will be." He muttered drunkenly. "I will be right here, waiting for your return...until then. I never plan to let you go."

He slipped the ring onto his pinky and climbed into the coffin, clasping the letter to his chest. Closing the lid, he fell into a slumber that would block out the passing years like living death.

And maybe he dreamed it, or maybe he didn't, but one morning he could have sworn that a long-haired woman with eyes the color of summer's finest merlot, roused him from his death-like sleep and saved him from his eternal darkness, slipped the shimmering ring off of his finger, and kissed him.

And maybe he dreamed that he had opened his arms and told her "Welcome home."


	9. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter!

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and/or reviewed this story. I appreciate the fact that you all gave it a chance. Also, thank you to anyone who may read this in the future. This is the very last chapter for this story you guys! Take care and I'll see you comes the next fic!

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The house was quiet and dark. Not a thing stirred, even deep within the bowels of the slowly aging mansion. It was in the dead hours of the morning, and the inhabitants were fast asleep in their room together. The man and the woman looked so natural, so in love, even though many years and many hardships had passed between them. It seemed like the personification of love, with the woman snuggled deep in the embrace of the man, his arm curled tightly about her sleeping form.

Though the night air was chilly and penetrated the heavy comforter they used during these winters, a sheen of sweat began to form across the woman's brow. Deep in the recesses of her sleeping mind, a faraway nightmare was haunting her, and had been for a long time. It had been many years since the actual event had come to pass, but still it haunted her with it's chilling memory.

She began to stir and weep loudly in her slumber. Her bedmate was roused from his own rest, but was not upset by the disruption. This had gone on for a while now, and he was used to the sound. He knew just what to do. He rolled her sleeping frame closer to his own body and held her tightly, stroking her hair back, wiping the sweat from her brow, and kissing her feverently, reassuring her that it was nothing but a bad dream, come to haunt her in her sleep.

The woman groaned quietly, but eventually settled, just as she always did. Relieved, the man returned to his own rest, hoping to catch a few more Zs before the dawn came rising, where he knew there was much to do. He was going to fix her some eggs, coffee, and pluck a rose from their indoor garden to garnish her breakfast tray with. Then he would go outside and shovel the snow out of the drive, and maybe invite her out to drink cocoa with him while they built a snowman. Yes, it was going to be a very busy day.

Just as the dawn began to creep across the sky, the woman awoke and looked over to her companion. He had been by her side, both figuratively and literally through so many things and years. Yet he would never understand the torment of the horrible dreams that occassionally chased her from her slumber.

Assured that he would not notice her absence from the bed, she quietly padded her way out of the room and into the attic. He did not know that she often did this while he slept. It was something of her safehaven. He had no great love for the scent of dust and decay, as he had experienced much of it in his younger years, and thusly did not intrude on her so-called sanctuary. She made her way up the rickety stairs and threw open the door in floor to the room. Throwing back the curtain that covered the solitary window, she pulled out a lace-covered book from under a stack of boxes that were secretly elevated, leaving only enough space to hide this treasure. She sat at the ledge beneath the window and let the dull blue light flood in and reveal to her the pages of her most treasured possession.

There were pictures of her in her wedding dress. It was a bright and sparkly affair, hand embroidered and bedecked in sequins and pearls, with rhinestones adding to the general glitz of the entire outfit. Her boquet was a spray of beautiful roses in white and pale blue. Her groom stood by the altar, waiting for her anxiously, unsure of what kind of breathtaking beauty he was about to behold. There was even a picture of him casting a sideways glance with his startling blue eyes at his watch, measuring the moments in the irregular beats of his nervous heart for the woman he had come to love more than anything else to finally make her way out.

The pages kept turning and picture after picture flashed before her eyes. As the light grew brighter, she could discern more and more the details of the pictures she was looking at. The reception. The cake cutting. More ridiculous wedding shots. Pictures of their honeymoon in Costa Del Sol. Their anniversary dinner aboard the submarine. His birthday. Her birthday. Their first child. It's first birthday. It went on and on like a normal photo album until about halfway though, where a note was placed in a sheet protector, and it looked as though it split the album in two. With sleepy eyes she read the note and followed along with a shaky finger. Each line evincing a whimper, or a tear. If you didn't know what the letter said, it looked as though she were naught but a happy lover, recounting the first written sweet nothing that her beloved had left her.

"Dear Tifa" It read...

"It all started beneath that beautiful starry sky that night in Nibelheim. The moments we've shared will never be lost to either of us because they have caused some of the most potent emotions possible to boil to the surface within us thoughout the long years to come to this point in our lives.

So far we've done very well with what we were given, donchya think? We're happily married, got a BEAUTIFUL baby girl, a big house, and a bright future with endless possibilities for growth.

The one thing we really lack though is the love that we claimed we originally shared.

I never meant for things to end up like this. When we got married all those years ago, I sincerely thought that I had moved past all the bad things that happened. I really thought that you and I could start a new life together, making each other as happy as possible, because we'd both finally either gotten what we wanted, or learned to appreciate what had been there all along (in my case).

Unfortunately I find myself once again having doubts as I watch our little girl grow up. I see the pink ribbon she loves to wear in her hair, and watch her tend to that garden she loves so much and am constantly reminded of the girl I was truly always after. I often wonder if our baby was sent to us as a reincarnation of that woman, given to me as a reason to live.

Please don't hate me for what has transpired, and please don't hate our baby for the assumptions I've made about her behavior. Don't be bitter about it and mistreat her, I may just be taking things out of context in my depression and anger.

I'm depressed because I finally realize that no matter how comfortable a life I build, I will always find myself longing for the one style of life that I would never have. That is one with Aeris. I know you've probably either stopped reading, or are on the verge of doing so, but no matter how much this hurts, please read it all the way through, as my final request of you.

I'm angry because of what I am about to tell you.

You've heard this song before, and this is the last time I'll make you listen to it ever again. I can't pretend to keep loving you as deeply as I say I do. Don't get me wrong, I didn't put you through all this without an inkling of love, but it's nowhere near as potent as it needs to be for things to work out the way they should between you and I.

Tonight I'm leaving for the last time to find her. I won't ever be back again to disrupt your life. I won't ever be back again to make you miserable. Hopefully you can take our baby and raise her well, and find someone who will love you as much as I know you are capable of loving another person. My only regret is that I could not be the one to love you half as much.

Please take care of yourself and the family we've built, and always know that I love you. Maybe it's not as deeply as we would have liked, but I do love you, and always will. Lead a happy and fufilling life. And maybe someday, if it was truly meant to be, we'll meet in another time and place, under more favorable circumstances.

Please don't hate me.

Please don't hate her.

Please don't hate yourself.

Take care,

Cloud

By the end of the letter, the tears were flowing freely from Tifa's eyes. They made odd sloshing noises as they hit the plastic sheet protector.

This was the note that they had found on his body after they had cut it down from the rafter where he had hung himself.

She had come home from her work at the bar one night to find his purple and blue body swinging from the highest rafter above the family room of their house.

Once it had been cleared that it was indeed a suicide, she sold the house and moved back to Nibelheim, taking her daughter with her.

On the way to Nibelheim, their Chocobo was ambushed by a gang of bandits and monsters. During the fray, her defenseless baby girl was yanked by the jugular off of the giant yellow bird and dragged around, and died of blood loss from the jagged scratches and bites the wolves had inflicted.

Tifa turned more pages, flipping past the obituary announcement that had declared both her husband and daughter dead, naming her the only survivor.

Towards the end of the book, there were a few picures, though not half as many as the ones in the beginning, of another smaller wedding.

A dark-haired, crimson-eyed man gripped her hand tightly as she stood in a simple beige dress before the minister who declared them husband and wife.

On the last page was a birth certificate and a pretty picture of her six month old twins, Sky and Gaia. Vincent Valentine held both in his arms, beaming proudly, just as a father should.

She closed the book and slid it back into it's hiding place. The first pink hues were beginning to peek through the electric blue that set the stage for dawn to give way to a blazing sunrise. She knew that Vincent would be up soon, and that today was their anniversary. She was sure he would make breakfast in bed, just like he did for every other special occasion.

She slipped the curtain back over the window and made her way out of the attic. She closed the door lightly and tiptoed her way back to their room. It was a long walk considering the Estate was nearly three times as large as her simple house had been.

She crept into bed and nestled into Vincent, who stirred slightly, and looked at his wife. It had taken many years and many hardships to get here, but he was sure that every moment was worth it.

Today was their anniversary. He was going to make her some eggs with cheese and green onions, just the way she liked it. And coffee. And a rose. He roused himself and got to work.

An hour later, he came into the room and shook his wife awake. She gazed up at him sleepily and smiled contentedly. He placed the tray in front of her and smiled.

"What's the occasion?"

"The most special thing in the world. Another day with you."

Two hues of red eyes met one another and silently smiled. They reaped the rewards of smiling through the tears and fighting the deadly sadness that crept into their bones in the companionship...no, love...they found in one another.

And that was the brightside.

Fin


End file.
